Word: optionally
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Reid himself also faces what could be a difficult re-election in 2010, which could be one of the factors driving him in favor of giving the public option a shot on the Senate floor. "This is all about his home-state politics," said one senior Democratic Senate aide. "This gets the left off his back." If he can't manage to get the public option past a filibuster, Reid could at least tell the liberals in his party that he gave it his best effort...
...bill that Reid intends to introduce would include a public option with a so-called "opt-out" provision, giving states the ability to decide not to offer a small share of their residents the chance to buy into a government-run health-insurance alternative. Ostensibly, such a provision would appeal to moderates, who object to the public option as giving the government too big a role in health care. But in practice, it is difficult to see why any state would actually make the decision to opt out, considering that no one would be forced to buy into the public...
...Recent weeks, however, have also seen some subtle shifts in the politics surrounding the debate over whether the health-care legislation should include a public option. A new round of polls show that it continues to enjoy broad public support, and the industry's efforts to fight the bill may have backfired politically. Additionally, there are new horror stories of people being denied coverage on unfair pretexts, and reports that insurers are jacking up the rates for small business in advance of the legislation. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office recently determined that a public option could save a significant amount...
...Meanwhile, the White House Monday sought to tamp down reports that it has misgivings about Reid's plan to bring a public option to the floor, which may well cause the only Republican who might vote for reform, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, to vote with her party. Presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs issued a statement declaring that President Obama is 'pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage, in this case with an allowance for states to opt out. As he said to Congress and the nation in September, he supports the public option...
Initially, the public option was a relatively small feature of the health-reform design, meant primarily to assure that there would be some competition for private insurers. As President Obama noted in his September speech before Congress, no more than 5% of Americans - largely those who are now uninsured - are expected to sign up for it. But the public option has assumed an outsized political significance, thanks to the fact that it has become a flash point between the left and the right. That is in part because both see it as a potential precursor to a government-run single...